The invention relates to a device for handling an article such as a coil spring, to an installation for handling such an article, and to a method of handling such an article. The article in question is a coil spring or more generally an article of elongate shape with a tendency, when stored in bulk with other similar articles, to become tangled together.
Thus, during storage, such articles tangle together with this tendency being further emphasized by the fact that the articles do not always have a stable rest position. For example, a coil spring tends to roll about its own axis when placed on a plane.
When it is desired to make use of an article of the above-specified type, for example in order to mount it in an assembly in which it is to be integrated, it is necessary to begin by separating it from other articles with which it is tangled. Such handling is time-consuming and has a penalizing impact on the cost of producing such assemblies.